


Split Happens

by HartKins



Category: Holby City
Genre: AU, Bowling alley, Eventual Smut, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:43:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HartKins/pseuds/HartKins
Summary: Serena is newly divorced and joins a bowling league to meet new friendsBernie is struggling in her marriage and joins a bowling league to get away and do what she wants to do





	1. Week 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is my first Berena fic. It's going to take me awhile to write because I hardly have any motivation, but I am going to try my best. I am American and I am choosing to write like one, so I'm sorry in advance that this fic won't be British. I just hope it isn't total crap.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who reads this!
> 
> There are some bowling terms in this first chapter
> 
> approach: how you walk when you throw the ball  
> pocket: the left or right side of the middle pin  
> backup ball: lighter ball used to pick up remaining pins

“Why am I doing this? This is stupid, I haven’t bowled in years.” Serena ponders to herself while standing in line waiting to sign in. She & Edward used to bowl on a league before having Elinor, they were quite good together, she would even say. After they had Ellie they stopped but would take her bowling during the summer when she was little. She’s 20 now and has moved out, leaving Serena all alone.

Serena & Edward have been officially divorced for 6 months now and Serena just doesn’t know what to do with herself when she’s not at work, hence joining a bowling league. 

“You’ll be on lane 20.” The guy at the check-in table tells her. She grabs the score sheet and her bag and heads toward her lane. When she gets there, she sees a woman putting her bowling balls on the rack, her blonde, curly hair dangling in front of her face, making it difficult for Serena to see what she looks like. The woman doesn’t look dressed for bowling, Serena thinks, if the tight skinny jeans are anything to go by.

Serena is just setting her things down on the table when the woman looks up and sees Serena fiddling with her bowling bag.

“Hello there.” The woman says and walks over to the table to get her shoes out of her bag on the floor.

“Hello.” Serena says getting her bowling balls out.

There’s an awkward silence for several seconds, neither woman was really good at socializing if they were honest, before Serena puts her hand towards the woman and introduces herself.

“Bernie. Bernie Wolfe.” The other woman says as she shakes Serena’s hand.

Once the guy announces that 15 minutes of practice has started, Bernie grabs her ball and gets ready for her approach. 

Serena watches her, notices she is standing to the left. This makes her even more intrigued, she's never seen a left-handed bowler bowl before, but when Bernie swings the ball back, it's with her right hand. What? Her release of the ball, however, confuses the heck out of Serena, it spins to the right towards the left side of the pocket, like a left-handed bowler would throw, but it was with her right! 

"Oh my god." Serena thinks to herself. The ball goes right in the pocket and all the pins fall down. 

"Wow." Serena says with an amazed look on her face as Bernie is walking back. 

"What?" Bernie is confused. 

"I've never seen anybody bowl like that. I thought you were a lefty from the way you were standing." Serena says as she stands up. 

"When I was little, I was on a bowling league and they tried teaching me how to bowl like a normal right-handed bowler, but I could never figure it out, my wrist just wouldn't turn that way. I just said 'screw it' and learned a different way. It's worked for me ever since. I never liked fingertips in balls, I felt like I was going to drop it, so I've always had my balls drilled normally." Bernie explains as she sits down. 

"Puts my throw to shame." Serena laughs as she picks her ball up. 

That's not true, every bowler's throw is unique. Serena's throw is that of a normal right-handed bowler, a twist inward of the wrist and the ball spins to the left heading for the right side of the pocket. However, the way she kicks her right leg back after her release, making her almost fall, gives Bernie the giggles. Serena leaves the 9-pin standing but knocks it down with her backup ball. 

"Well that was cute." Bernie smiles as Serena is walking back. 

"It's been a long time since I've bowled, need to get my footing back." Serena says sitting back down at the table. 

Once practice is over, it's Bernie's turn first. There was supposed to be 2 other bowlers at their table but they never showed up, which was fine because Bernie & Serena had their stuff spread out on the table. 

After Bernie & Serena bowl 3 frames, Bernie stands up with her wallet in her hand. 

"I'm gonna get a drink at the bar, want anything?" She asks Serena. 

"A glass of Shiraz if they've got it." Serena says while putting her wrist brace on. It really has been ages since she's bowled and her wrist can already feel it. 

Bernie comes back with a glass of red wine and a double shot of whiskey. 

"It's a party now!" She says setting the glasses on the table and sitting down. 

It took them an hour and a half to bowl 3 games, they took their time, neither of them was in a rush to get home. 

Now finished bowling with all their stuff put away, and on their 3rd drink, Serena looks at Bernie. 

"Can we make a toast?" Serena grabs her wine. 

"Of course." Bernie grabs her whiskey. 

"Here's to new friends and new adventures." Serena says raising her glass. 

"I'll drink to that" Bernie raises her glass and clinks it with Serena's. 

When every bowler on the league is finished with the last game, and once Bernie & Serena are done drinking, they both get up and collect their belongings and head towards the doors to leave. 

"See you next week then, Bernie?" Serena asks once they're outside. 

"See you next week, Serena." Bernie smiles at her and Serena smiles back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I bowl like Bernie. When I was 7 I used to throw the ball with 2 hands. Then my coach decided it was time for me to bowl with 1 hand, him and his daughter tried for weeks to get me to twist my right wrist in but I couldn't get it. Somehow I ended up with this weird throw but I love it and it works for me.
> 
> Also, I'm a 12 year old boy and giggled every time I typed balls


	2. Week 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernie & Serena learn a little bit about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bernie & Serena are the ages they are in the show, but I'm not sure how old their children are so I'm just guessing.

Serena is running a little late tonight, she's coming straight from work, luckily, she keeps her bowling bag in her car to save the hassle of carrying it in and out of the house every week. 

She grabs the recap sheet that tells what everyone bowled last week and what lane she's on this week, she heads towards her lane, lane 15 this time, and notices the blonde from last week on the same lane getting ready. 

"We're on the same lane again?" Serena says as she's walking up to the table. 

"Looks like it. Do you have a problem with that?" Bernie says looking up to Serena. "Because I could-" Bernie is cut off. 

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I just think it's funny that there are 20 some bowlers on this league and we get put on the same lane 2 weeks in a row." Serena laughs. 

Serena sets her stuff down and begins to unpack everything. 

Practice bowling begins and it's Serena that goes first. She grabs her ball and begins her approach. Instead of chucking the ball down the lane, like she did last week, she decides to try something different. She holds her ball on the right side of her body and starts to walk towards the foul line, as she's bringing the ball forward, she twists her wrist like she always does, but instead of kicking her right leg in the air behind her, she leaves it on the ground behind her left leg, making the release of the ball smoother. It works and the ball goes right into the pocket and all the pins fall down like dominoes. 

"Finally." Serena whispers to herself. 

She didn't bowl terribly last week, by any means, she just wasn't happy with how she looked and how the ball landed on the lane, the ball shouldn't bounce like a basketball, it should glide smoothly on the lane. 

"That wasn't how you bowled last week." Bernie says as Serena is walking back to the table. 

"I wanted to try something different, change it up a bit." Serena says grabbing her towel to wipe her other ball off. 

"Hey, whatever works." Bernie shrugs. 

After practice is over and Bernie & Serena's names are up on the screen, Bernie gets up to begin bowling while Serena is grabbing money out of her wallet, it's been a long day and she needs a drink. 

"I'm getting a drink, want one?" Serena asks Bernie before she grabs her ball. 

"Double shot of whiskey, please." Bernie says looking back at Serena. 

Serena comes back with Bernie's whiskey and a large glass of wine. 

"That's a big glass." Bernie comments on Serena's wine. 

"Work was crazy today." Serena sighs. 

"Where do you work?" Bernie asks, curious as to what job would make Serena want to drink a lot of wine. 

"I work at Holby City Hospital, I'm a surgeon." Serena says after taking a drink. 

"Oooh, then you do need wine." Bernie sympathizes. 

"Are you a surgeon as well?" Serena asks. 

"Army surgeon, well, ex-army surgeon." Bernie says. 

"Ex?" Serena is confused. 

"I left the army 3 months ago to try and save my marriage. It didn't work, so now I'm on a bowling league to have some time away and do what I want to do. I haven't been looking for a job yet, still trying to adjust to civilian life." Bernie sighs. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Serena frowns. 

"Thanks. What about you? Do you have a significant other?" Bernie asks totally forgetting that they were in a bowling alley and not a bar. 

"I am newly divorced. We wanted different things. I'm happier now than I have been in a long time. I'm just bored, that's why I'm on this league, going home to an empty house every night gets old really fast." Serena says. 

"I'm sure it does. Do you have any kids? Shit, you've had a long day, I'm sorry for all the questions." Bernie bows her head, her fringe hiding her eyes. 

"No, it's ok, this is the first time today that I've gotten to chat with someone about unrelated hospital stuff," Serena chuckles. "I have a daughter named Elinor, she's 20 and in college, I only ever hear from her when she needs something." Serena says. She's sad she doesn't see her daughter more often but she has accepted it. "Do you have kids?" Serena asks. 

"I have a son named Cameron, he's 25 and a daughter named Charlotte, she's 21. Elinor & Charlotte sound a lot alike, I rarely hear from Charlotte too. Cam calls once a week and we get together every month." Bernie says. She looks up and realizes they haven't bowled very many frames. "Oh, we're supposed to be bowling." Bernie laughs. 

They finish all 3 games pretty quickly, briefly stopping to drink and have short, meaningless conversations about who knows what. 

They decide not to stick around and wait for everyone to finish because they're taking forever. 

Once Bernie & Serena have packed up, they both head for the door to leave. 

"I'll see you next week, Bernie." Serena says while getting her keys out of her bag. 

"See you next week, Serena. I hope work is better tomorrow." Bernie smiles at her. 

"Thank you." Serena smiles back at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry for the slow burn. I'm really enjoying writing this so I wanna drag it out.


	3. Week 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernie decides to be brave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't read my post on Tumblr many many months back, I decided to combine chapters 1 & 2 so each chapter is a different week on the league.
> 
> Thank you so much for being patient with me during the massive writer's block I've been having!

Week 3 starts with Bernie being a tad late due to lunch with Cameron and a job interview. She’s not going to lie to herself and say she hasn’t thought about Serena this week, because she has, several times, actually. There’s just something about Serena that makes her feel comfortable, like she can talk to her about anything and everything. She wants to get to know Serena, but it’s difficult in a bowling alley. She decides to be brave and do something she’s never done before. She grabs the recap sheet and heads to lane 14. Serena’s there, of course she is, putting her shoes on. 

“Ok this is getting ridiculous!” Bernie laughs and sets her stuff down on the table. 

“Yep, someone must think it’s funny to put the 2 divorced mothers together so we can talk about our failed marriages.” Serena chuckles, giving Bernie a sarcastic look. 

“Or it could be because we’re both good-looking middle-aged women?” Bernie says, looking anywhere but Serena’s face. 

“Hey what makes you think I’m middle-aged?!” Serena jokes, smacking Bernie’s arm. “I’m only as old as I feel and I feel 40. Do I look it?” She gives Bernie a flirtatious look. 

“Um yeah you do, actually.” Bernie gulps. Serena’s flirting with her. Does she do this with everyone? Bernie has no idea. Bernie decides to not rush into anything until they’re done bowling. 

The 3 games fly by, Bernie feels. She beat Serena in all of them, not by that much, but with Serena’s slightly higher handicap, she ends up beating Bernie. She’s not a competitive person, so she’s not mad about it. They’re just packing up when Bernie takes a deep breath and walks over to Serena. 

“Hey, I was wondering, would you like to have coffee sometime? On the weekend, or your day off, if you want?” Bernie was so nervous, looking at her feet repeating ‘she’s gonna say no’ in her head. It felt like minutes passed before Serena spoke up. 

“I’d like that. Are you free Saturday afternoon?” Serena smiles at Bernie. She has to admit that Bernie is nice to be around, she feels relaxed around Bernie. The stress from work tend to disappear when they’re together. 

They say their goodbyes in the parking lot, having already set up where and when they’re meeting for coffee. 2:30 at a coffee shop Bernie says has really good coffee. 

 

Saturday rolls around and at 2:30 Bernie & Serena meet in a parking lot across the street. Together, they walk to a place called Drips, a small secluded building. Serena would’ve missed it if Bernie hadn’t told her about it, hidden behind big stores and not much advertising, she could see why she’s never heard of it before. 

They’re both so nervous about this coffee date but glad they will be able to talk without the distractions from the bowling alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the abrupt ending. I wanted the coffee date to start in the next chapter.
> 
> Things are speeding up!!!! The slow burn won't be for much longer!!!!


	4. Week 4 + coffee date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coffee date is finally here!!!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer because I decided to cram a lot of stuff in!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Once inside, they order their drinks and find a booth to sit in while they wait. When their coffees are ready, Serena starts to get up when Bernie stops her.

“I’ll go.” Bernie smiles at her and goes to the counter. She brings them back and hands Serena hers, a Caffe Americano, and sits down with her iced coffee. She about chokes on hers when she sees the look on Serena’s face after she’s taken her first taste, sheer delight.

“It’s the water.” Bernie says once Serena puts the cup down after several sips.

“Huh?” Serena wonders if she’s missed something while enjoying her coffee.

“That’s what makes it taste so good, it’s the water they use.” Bernie points to her drink.

“Is it like imported or something? I love coffee, but it’s never tasted this good before.” Serena is amazed.

“Honestly, I think it’s just from the tap, but I could be wrong.” Bernie shrugs. “Anyway, how was the rest of your week?” Bernie asks.

“Ugh. We’ve been short-staffed at the hospital for a week now, it’s been Hell.” Serena, being the consultant on AAU, has been begging the CEO to hire more staff but he hasn’t made a decision yet. “How was yours? Hopefully better than mine?” Serena is frustrated with the job that she loves.

“It was good. I think I found an apartment to move to, it’s hurting us both living in the same house, and honestly, it just doesn’t feel like my home anymore. Also, I had a job interview, which was why I was late the other night. It’s at St James Hospital, which I’m not too keen on, Marcus, my husband works there, but it’s better than nothing.” Bernie doesn’t want to hate Marcus, he’s the father of her children, but she wants to be the better person, and if that means working at the same place as her soon-to-be ex-husband, so be it.

“I could put a good word in to the CEO at Holby, maybe he could find you a job, if you’d like? I know all too well what it’s like to work in the same place as your ex-husband, it’s not easy. There were days when I wanted to kill Edward.” Serena smiles at her sympathetically.

“Oh, that would be great, thank you” Bernie smiles back with a tear in her eye. Since leaving the army 3 months ago, it’s been a struggle and she doesn’t really have anyone to talk to, except Cameron, but it’s been really nice to be able to talk to Serena, she understands and she listens.

“So, what made you want to go into the army?” Serena feels comfortable with Bernie, wants to know more about her.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to help people outside of the hospital. There’s a real adrenaline rush when you’re saving someone’s life with gunfire all around you.” Bernie chuckles. “It was a lot of fun, but hard being away from my kids most of their lives, they took it the hardest. That’s why I’m trying to build the relationships up again, I missed so much of their lives.” Bernie doesn’t regret going to the army, she regrets having her kids beforehand.

“I’m sure they’re glad you’re back for good, out of danger?” Serena wishes she could have another chance with Elinor, to have a relationship with her one and only child, but she’s stubborn and independent, just like her father.

“Yeah, Cameron definitely is. I haven’t really talked to Charlotte about it. She doesn’t like to talk about the army and she doesn’t remember as much as Cameron, she was little when I went on the first couple of tours.”

The rest of the coffee date goes well, both women agreeing they need to happen at least once a month, if not more.

 

Bernie & Serena both walk up to the doors of the bowling alley at the same time, walking inside and grabbing the recap sheet and to no surprise to them, they’re on the same lane.

The 3 games go smoothly, both having a couple drinks and chatting about the rest of their weekend.

“Hey look at that! You beat me without your handicap! Only took you a month!” Bernie jokes and is rewarded with a smack to the arm.

“Oh hush! I told you before, I used to bowl all the time, and I was quite good. It just took me awhile to get back into it. Just wait, I’ll be kicking your butt in every single game.” Serena winks at her. She knows she’s flirting and she doesn’t want to stop.

“Oh really? Wanna bet on that?” Bernie isn’t a betting woman, but she feels Serena could turn her into one. Heck, Serena could turn her into a wine connoisseur, even though she doesn't like it, and she wouldn’t care as long as Serena was with her.

"You're on. Next week, loser of each game buys the drinks." Serena's confidence is through the roof.

They shake hands on it, both holding on a few seconds too long, but who's counting?

They leave the building feeling excited. Excited for next week, for when they get to see each other again.

 

A busy and stressful day on AAU has Serena practically pulling her hair out. There have been patients yelling, files and equipment thrown, and she has changed her scrubs 3 times due to bodily fluids she does not want to think about.

“Ms Campbell, someone’s been looking for you, I had them wait in your office.” Lou, a very quiet but efficient nurse says to Serena as she’s walking by the nurses' station.

Serena does not have time for this. If it’s someone complaining about the unorganized chaos, then they’re going to get an earful about how it’s not Serena’s fault and they need to talk to Henrik Hanssen, the CEO.

Serena puts her hand on the door handle, taking a breath to prepare herself for who knows what.

“Hello, stranger.” A familiar voice says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SUSPENSE!!!!!!!! WHO COULD IT BE?!
> 
> As always, a huge thank you for your patience and continued support on this fic that has taken me a billion months to write.


	5. Week 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena talks to the person in her office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suspense is over!!!!! Who's in Serena's office???

_“Hello, stranger.” A familiar voice says._

 

No, it can’t be. Are Serena’s ears deceiving her?

It’s Bernie. Bernie Wolfe is in her office.

“Wha-what are you doing here?!” Serena can’t hide the shock and excitement in her voice.

“Well, thanks to you and Henrik Hanssen, you’re looking at the new Trauma Surgeon on AAU. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of me now.” Bernie beams, she’s looking forward to working with patients again, and if she’s honest, she’s excited to work alongside Serena.

Serena’s speechless. She won’t deny that she hasn’t thought about Bernie while at work a few times. A quick ‘I wonder what she’s up to’ and ‘Has she found a job yet?’ Serena doesn’t have to wonder anymore. This is one way to get to know each other outside of the bowling alley.

“Are you okay with this, Serena?” Bernie asks, confused when Serena doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t Serena want this? She wouldn’t talk to Hanssen about hiring someone on AAU, and mentioning Bernie, if this isn’t what she wants.

“Yes, of course I am. I’m just shocked, and it’s been a very long day.” There’s a pause. “Honestly, Bernie, I’m more than okay with this.” Serena smiles. This is going to be fun.

 

Things seem to calm down once Bernie starts working. At the end of their shift Bernie & Serena meet in the office, now their office.

“Everyone is headed down to Albie’s, the bar down the street, want to join us?” Serena asks Bernie, hoping she says yes.

“Sure.” Bernie can’t say no to Serena.

 

At the bar, they order their drinks and Bernie starts to reach for her wallet in her purse.

“Nope, the rule on AAU is that I buy the newbie their first drink.” Serena reaches for Bernie’s hand to stop her, her touch warm and feather-light. They stare into each other’s eyes for a second before they pull away.

“Fine, but I’m buying the next one.” Bernie agrees, she doesn’t want to break the rules on her first day.

“So how was your first day at Holby City Hospital?” Serena asks, taking a swig of her wine, Shiraz of course.

“It was good. So much different than the army, obviously. Everyone is nice and easy to work with. I think I’m gonna enjoy working here.” Bernie smiles at Serena.

 

At the end of another busy day, Bernie & Serena get in their cars and head to the bowling alley. Bernie following Serena because she can’t remember how to get there from the hospital.

They both remember the bet they made last week and resist the urge to get drinks when they get there.

Bernie wins the first game by 25 pins so as she starts the second game, Serena gets the drinks, already knowing what Bernie wants.

“Here you go.” Serena says as she sets the glasses down. “Oh, and just so you know, these are the last drinks I’m buying tonight. This isn’t over yet.” Serena is feeling feisty and competitive, possibly from the alcohol. Bernie just chuckles and shakes her head.

Serena sticks to her word and beats Bernie by 15 pins the second game.

The third game, Serena smokes Bernie by 60 pins, a turkey in the middle of the game really helped her.

Bernie gets the last round as Serena is putting her stuff away.

“Alright, I didn’t think you’d beat me by that much in the last game.” Bernie says as she’s putting her shoes on.

“Are you surprised?” Serena sits down and takes a drink of her wine.

“Kind of. I thought you were all talk and no action.” Bernie winks at her, clearly flirting.

“I’ll have you know, I’m all action with very little talk.” Serena flirts back.

“In that case, I’d like to see more of your actions.” Bernie doesn’t know what she means by that. Serena’s eyes staring at her are affecting her thought process.

 

They leave the bowling alley and walk together, maybe too closely, to their cars parked next to each other.

“See you tomorrow, Serena.” Bernie waves, she still can’t believe she gets to see her almost every day. She really likes Serena, she won’t deny that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not extremely happy with this chapter but I didn't want to keep you in suspense.
> 
> I have to keep reminding myself that chapters are like episodes, some are good and some are bad.
> 
> The slow burn won't be slow for much longer, I promise!


	6. Week 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena once said "Love makes fools of us all. Makes people do crazy things, things they scarce imagined." Alcohol seems to do the same thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something exciting happens!

“Damn.” Serena mutters to herself while in her car after her shift.

“What’s wrong?” Bernie knocks on her window as she’s walking past.

“Car won’t start, battery must be dead.” Serena sighs, getting out.

“Hop in my car, we’re going to the same place.” Bernie offers, hoping Serena says yes.

“Ok.” Serena smiles and grabs her stuff.

 

They get to the bowling alley on time. They both decide not to do any betting, it’s been a long day and they need a drink.

“How was the rest of your day?” Bernie asks in the middle of game 2. She hasn’t seen Serena much after they did an appendectomy in the late morning.

“Good. I had 2 more surgeries and a meeting with the board.” Serena says.

They finish bowling rather quickly, Serena loses by a lot, clearly not in the mood to bowl tonight.

 

They get in Bernie’s car and Serena tells her how to get to her house.

“Do you want to come in for a drink?” Serena asks. She realizes this is the first time Bernie has been to her house, she can’t just let her leave right away. The thought of Bernie being here excites her.

“Um, sure.” Bernie agrees. She’s nervous, but she’s curious as to what Serena’s house looks like. She likes Serena’s taste in clothing, the way their office is decorated. She figures her house is no different.

“Whiskey?” Serena asks Bernie as they’re walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah, if you have it.” Bernie says, looking around the kitchen, definitely not what she expected. There isn’t much color, a lot of beige.

“I’ll be honest and say that I recently bought whiskey in the hopes you’d stop by one day.” Serena blushes.

“Ahh, you’ve been planning this, then?” Bernie smirks. She can’t blame Serena at all, because she would do the same thing.

“Yes, but I didn’t purposely kill my car battery, I swear!” Serena hands Bernie a glass.

“Ok, fair enough.” Bernie chuckles.

They take their drinks and head to the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch.

They sit for a few minutes, laying their heads back, both savoring the silence, the long day finally catching up with each other.

Serena is feeling quite tipsy, she realized she hasn’t eaten since this morning when she grabbed a muffin from Pulse’s. Lunch not an option due to being stuck in surgery.

With the alcohol coursing through her veins and making her tingly, she decides to be brave.

“I like you.” Serena whispers into the air.

“What did you say?” Bernie turns to look at her.

“I said, I like you.” She repeats.

“I like you too. You’re a good friend.” Bernie smiles.

“No. No, I mean I _like_ you. I don’t know what that means, I’ve never had these feelings towards a woman before, but I do know that I like you more than just a friend.” Serena’s scared, she doesn’t exactly know what she’s saying, but it’s true.

“Really?” Bernie is shocked to hear her say this.

Serena nods. She sets her glass down on the end table and moves closer to Bernie. Staring at Bernie, at her lips. This is it, this is the moment. Serena pecks Bernie on the lips, they’re so soft. When she pulls away, she’s shocked by the look on Bernie’s face. This was a bad idea. She moves away from her.

“Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Bernie. I don’t know why I did that.” Serena says, looking down at the floor, unable to look at Bernie directly.

“Serena. No, it’s okay. I feel the exact same way.” Bernie sets her glass down and moves towards Serena, resting her hand on her thigh.

“You do?” This isn’t what Serena expected Bernie to say, not that she’s complaining.

“Yeah. I think I felt it the minute we met at the bowling alley. It just took me awhile to process it all. Being newly separated from Marcus made me feel lonely and wanting a friend. I just thought that that was what those feelings were, but it’s more than that, more than a friendship.” Bernie breathes a sigh of relief. Being able to tell Serena how she feels and knowing Serena feels the same way, makes her heart soar.

“Oh, Bernie.” Serena can’t help but smile at her, can’t believe what she’s hearing. She grabs Bernie’s face and kisses her lips hard. After several seconds, they pull apart, both needing air.

“It’s getting late, I should probably head home.” Bernie says, not taking her eyes off Serena.

“Ok.” Serena sighs, not wanting Bernie to leave, but it’s probably for the best.

They get up and head to the door.

“Goodnight, Serena.” Bernie smiles, both of them standing on the front porch.

“Goodnight, Bernie.” Serena smiles back, then decides to kiss her one more time.

Serena shuts the door and leans against it, with the biggest smile on her face.

“Wow.” Bernie exhales deeply, once in her car. She’s unsure what just happened, but she can’t wait to see what happens next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow burn no more!
> 
> I've decided to only go to 10 chapters. I'm still going to write fics, but they will probably just be one shots.


	7. Week 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena gets her car fixed and a surprise after bowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make this chapter cuter than the rest

The next day, Serena decides to sleep in, she has the day off and just feels like lying around. It isn’t until around 11am that she decides she wants to get out of the house.

“Oh, shit.” Serena mutters to herself, as she’s digging in her purse for her keys. She remembers where her car is, in the hospital parking lot. She also remembers what happened last night, what all was said. How could she forget? Thinking back to all the things Bernie said, brings a smile to her face.

Just as she’s about to call a taxi to take her to the hospital, the doorbell rings. A door-to-door sales person, probably. Instead of ignoring them, like she usually does, she decides to answer it this time. When she opens the door, it isn’t who she expects. It’s....

“Bernie!” Serena gasps. Well, this was a surprise.

“Good morning, Serena.” Bernie says, smiling the biggest smile Serena has ever seen on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Serena asks quizzically. Bernie was supposed to be working today.

“I deliver fixed cars, now.” Bernie jokes, pointing her finger to the car in the driveway, Serena’s car.

“How did you? When did you? What?” Serena was clearly flabbergasted.

“When I got to work this morning, I parked next to your car and thought you came in on your day off, then I remembered what happened last night. I mean, I didn’t forget about what happened, I just forgot about your car. So, I thought I’d fix it and bring it over on my lunch break.” Bernie smiles.

“Oh, Bernie, you didn’t have to do that.” Serena doesn’t quite know what to say. No one has ever done something like this for her. As tears begin to form in her eyes, she quickly blinks them away.

“It’s no big deal. I wanted to, Serena.” Bernie reaches out to rub Serena’s arm, seeing the tears in her eyes.

“Thank you.” Serena leans in to kiss Bernie on the cheek, showing her appreciation. There’s a pause. “I was just about to grab some lunch, care to join me?” Serena asks, grabbing Bernie’s hand and rubbing her thumb across it.

“I’d love to.” Bernie smiles as she gazes into Serena’s eyes.

 

The rest of the week goes by quickly. Work is uneventful, thank goodness.

Bernie & Serena arrive at the bowling alley at the same time, parking next to each other. Bernie had the day off, and Serena couldn’t hide that she was excited to see Bernie. As they’re walking up to the building, Serena leans over and kisses Bernie’s cheek, making both of them blush.

“Hi.” Bernie chuckles.

“Hi. I missed you today.” Serena smiles.

“I missed you, too.” Bernie smiles back.

They grab the recap sheets and head to lane 21, wondering if they’re on the same lane is no more, of course they are.

Bowling tonight seems different than last week, like the mood was brighter.

“How was the ward today?” Bernie asks, setting a shiraz and whiskey down on the table.

“It was good, nothing too chaotic, thank goodness. The office was lonely, however.” Serena smiles at Bernie.

“I know. If only we could change our schedules so we had the same days off, but I don’t think AAU would run smoothly without a consultant.” Bernie laughs, briefly touching Serena’s hand before getting up to bowl and getting a strike.

Bernie had been promoted to consultant pretty quickly after arriving, being in the army and knowing how to handle an emergency helped Hanssen’s decision. Serena didn’t complain, of course.

“What did you do today?” Serena asks after throwing a gutter ball, the 10-pin, the far-right pin, is her enemy.

“I had lunch with Cam, he’s doing well. I signed the lease for my new apartment, I move in this weekend. Oh, and I talked to Charlotte, which was unexpected. She heard I got a new job and wanted to know how I’m liking it. I have this feeling she wants something, but I’m not sure what. It could be that I’m just so used to her only calling when she needs something, though.” Bernie sighs, looking down at her glass.

“That’s great that you heard from her, Bernie. Also, how _are_ you liking your job?” Serena smiles at her.

“Oh, I love it, and I really like the people I work with.” Bernie winks at Serena, grabbing her hand and linking their fingers together. She tries to lean towards Serena to kiss her, but Serena stops her.

“Bernie, we can’t. We’re in public.” Serena blushes and squeezes Bernie’s hand tight.

“Fine.” Bernie pouts, unlocking their fingers and crossing her arms, much like a child.

 

Once Bernie & Serena have finished bowling, they pack up their stuff and head for the door. Serena is just getting in her car when the passenger door opens and Bernie gets in. Turning towards Serena, she grabs her face and kisses her lips hard.

“Ber-!” Serena gasps out. She lets out a moan when Bernie’s tongue slips into her mouth. As they’re pulling away for air, Bernie tugs at Serena’s bottom lip with her teeth.

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” Bernie giggles, looking into Serena’s eyes.

“No need to apologize for _that_. Wow.” Serena is breathless, she wasn’t expecting it, but very much enjoyed it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Serena.” Bernie smiles at her and leans over to kiss her lips one more time before climbing out of Serena’s car.

“Bye, Bernie.” Serena replies. She takes a deep breath to gather herself before she shifts her car to reverse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bernie is so adorable!!!!


	8. Week 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena has a hard day at work and she finds comfort in her friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue is from an episode

Serena’s day starts out horrible, she hasn’t even gotten to work and she wishes it was over. Edward had called her while she was getting ready. Yelling at her, belittling her, and blaming her for their divorce, even though Edward was clearly to blame. She gets to the hospital and stops by Pulse’s to grab a coffee before getting on the elevator. As the doors are shutting, someone sticks their arm out to stop them.

“Bernie.” Serena grins as the doors open, revealing the consultant.

“Hi, Serena.” Bernie says. Happy that no one else has gotten on the elevator with them. As the doors begin to shut, she leans over and pecks Serena’s cheek, Serena blushing instantly.

“Mmmm.” Serena moans after taking a drink of her coffee.

“Is that coffee in there?” Bernie laughs, thinking there must be something delicious to make Serena do that.

“Yep. Strong and hot, just the way I like it.” Serena says before taking another sip.

“You know, I’m pretty strong.” Bernie winks at her and Serena chokes on her coffee, almost spilling some down her front.

“You’re also hot.” Serena winks back, making them both blush.

Before the elevator doors open to AAU, Bernie leans over and kisses Serena’s lips, her hands going to her face, Serena’s hands in Bernie’s hair. The doors open as Bernie is messing with her hair, fixing the curls.

 

The morning goes by smoothly for Bernie & Serena, a short meeting and an easy surgery before going down and grabbing lunch at the café.

Serena is just getting back from lunch when she heads over to the nurses’ station to get a look at the surgery schedule. As one of the names jumps out at her, **E. Campbell age 20** , she rushes over to bed 1 where the patient is, with the curtain closed.

“Oh my god, Elinor!” Serena yells, ripping the curtain open.

 

Bernie & Serena are sitting in their office, Serena’s forehead rested on Bernie’s shoulder with tears in her eyes.

“I-I thought that was my little girl, Bernie.” Serena sobs, clutching Bernie’s scrub top tightly.

“Shhhh. I know, love.” Bernie coos, running her fingers through Serena’s short locks.

Bernie doesn’t blame Serena at all. She hasn’t heard from Elinor since the day the divorce papers were finalized, which was nearly 9 months ago. She doesn’t even know where she is right now. For all she knows, Elinor could be in a different country, but at least she isn’t in bed 1. When Serena pulled the curtain back, it wasn’t Elinor Campbell laying there. It was a girl named Emily Campbell, a 20 year old with an enlarged aortic aneurysm and needing surgery as soon as possible.

Once Serena has gathered herself, she decides to go and talk to Emily. She wants to make sure Emily knows what’s going on and how surgery will go, reassuring her that everything will be ok and that she knows what she’s doing.

 

Serena joins Bernie in the scrub room to wash and prepare for surgery.

“Everything go okay?” Bernie asks, noticing a smile on Serena’s face, she talked to Emily for 30 minutes after Bernie left to help another patient.

“Great. She’s a lot like Elinor. Ambitious, stubborn, and won’t take no for an answer. It felt like I was talking to my daughter.” Serena says, cleaning under her fingernails.

 

The surgery is going smoothly until the alarms start to sound and blood starts pooling in her abdomen.

“There’s a tear. Suction.” Bernie announces.

“Damn. Packs, please.” Serena says, shoving them into Emily’s abdomen.

“We’re not making any difference.” Bernie says several seconds later, looking around the table and seeing blood everywhere.

“If we stop it, I can patch it.” Serena is hopeful and positive.

“You’ll never patch that.” Bernie says.

“Well, we’ve got to try.” Serena is not giving up.

“It can’t be done. The blood is coming out faster than we can put it in. The tear is way too big. It can’t be patched, Serena.” Bernie shakes her head. She wishes they could do more.

“No, we can’t give up. I can’t let her die.” Serena cries, doing all she can to get rid of the blood.

“We can’t save her. It’s over. I’m sorry.” Bernie says, grabbing Serena’s hands to stop them.

 

They walk back to the scrub room, both taking off all the soiled garments. Serena walks over to Bernie, who holds her arms out and lets Serena collapse into her.

“Bernie.” Serena cries into Bernie’s shoulder.

“I know, Serena.” Bernie says, rubbing her back.

 

After Bernie lets Serena recover, they head back to their office to do paperwork.

“I think I’m having an off day. I don’t normally cry at work.” Serena says to Bernie.

“It’s okay.” Bernie smiles at her.

“Edward called me this morning. I don’t know why, I really wasn’t listening. The parts I did hear was him telling me it was my fault we’re divorced, and that it’s my fault Elinor won’t talk to me. When I saw ‘E. Campbell’ on the screen, I thought that was it, I was going to lose my daughter and Edward’s call this morning was a warning.” Serena sobs quietly with her head in her hands.

“Oh, Serena.” Bernie gets up and rushes over to her, sitting on Serena’s desk and grabbing her hands to hold them.

 

They decide to leave work early and grab an early dinner at the bowling alley before it’s time to bowl.

“I definitely need a drink after today.” Serena says, heading straight for the bar after putting her stuff on the table, with Bernie right behind her.

“It’s the last night of bowling. Are you up for betting?” Bernie asks after they’ve both finished their burgers.

“Are you asking if I’m up for drinking for free? Of course, I am!” Serena says, raising her almost empty wine glass in the air before drinking the rest in one go.

“Alright then, you’re on!” Bernie laughs, downing the rest of her whiskey as well. She’s happy that Serena is in a better mood after today.

Bernie beats Serena by 15 pins in the first game. Serena gets up and walks over to the bar, Bernie can’t help but watch Serena, the way her hips move when she walks. She’s surprised she gets anything done at work when Serena is around.

In the second game, Serena beats Bernie by 3 pins, 2 strikes in the last frame helping her out immensely, only needing 6 to win.

“I’ll take a double whiskey please, Ms. Wolfe.” Serena bats her eyes at Bernie.

“Whiskey?” Bernie laughs out.

“Yep. I’m in the mood and we’re celebrating the last night of league.” Serena says.

Bernie brings the drinks back and Serena holds her glass up to make a toast.

“What are we toasting to?” Bernie chuckles, raising her glass.

“Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but I’m so glad I joined this league. Here’s to the future, may it be as good as it has been the last 2 months.” Serena says, clinking her glass to Bernie’s.

“Cheers. I think it will be better. I’m the happiest I’ve been in several months, thanks to you.” Bernie winks at Serena.

Bernie beats Serena in the last game by a lot. Serena has found out that alcohol and bowling do not work for her, but she doesn’t care. Serena goes to the bar and gets them both double shots of whiskey and almost trips over her shoes while walking back to the table.

“Here you go, my love!” Serena practically sings.

“Serena, are you okay?” Bernie is concerned. She definitely doesn’t want Serena driving home like this.

“I’m great, Bernie. Never better!” Serena says before she chugs half the drink.

 

After they’ve packed up, Serena reaches for her keys on the table.

“Oh no, Serena. You are NOT driving home.” Bernie grabs Serena’s keys and throws them in her bag.

“How will I get home now?” Serena pouts.

“I’m going to drive you home in my car.” Bernie grabs her stuff and ushers Serena to the door.

 

Once they’re on the main street, Serena reaches over and puts her hand on Bernie’s thigh, making Bernie jump a little.

“You’re such a great friend to take me home, Bernie.” Serena says, turning to face Bernie.

“There was no way I was going to let you drive yourself.” Bernie says, keeping her eyes on the road. She wouldn’t say she’s drunk, definitely soberer than Serena.

 

Bernie pulls up to Serena’s house and helps her get out of the car and grabs her stuff.

Once Serena puts her stuff on the floor, she practically crawls to the couch and lays down. Closing her eyes, she starts thinking about Elinor, making her whimper.

“Serena? Are you ok?” Bernie strides over to the couch. Serena sits up to make room for Bernie, slamming her head onto Bernie’s shoulder, draping her arm across her stomach and curling into her.

“I’m just thinking about Elinor.” Serena says softly as Bernie runs her hand through her hair and down her arm, repeating several times.

After about 10 minutes, Bernie hears Serena snoring softly, making her smile. She hates to wake Serena, but it’s getting uncomfortable to sit how they are.

“I should get going, Serena.” Bernie whispers, rubbing Serena’s cheek with her thumb.

“No. I don’t want to be alone tonight. Please stay, Bernie.” Serena begs, clutching onto Bernie tightly as if she will disappear if she doesn’t.

“Ok. I’ll stay. Can we get off the couch and lay somewhere comfortable?” Bernie asks, rubbing Serena’s hand that’s squeezing her hip, trying to loosen the grip.

“Ok.” Serena agrees, letting Bernie go and standing up on wobbly legs.

Bernie stands up and Serena grabs her hand and leads them to her bedroom.

 

Inside the bedroom, Serena takes her shoes off and uses the bathroom. She comes back and takes her clothes off, leaving her bra and underwear on and climbs into the bed.

“Um. Do you have a guest room or?” Bernie is a little shy, she doesn’t know what to do.

“Yes, but I want you in bed with me. Come on, take off your clothes and get in. I don’t bite too hard.” Serena winks at Bernie.

Bernie awkwardly takes her clothes off, apart from her bra and underwear, just like Serena, and climbs in on the other side, facing away from Serena and keeping some space between them. Serena decides they’re too far apart and scooches closer so she’s flush up against Bernie and wraps her arm around her stomach, feeling her warm, bare skin.

“Serena.” Bernie gasps, realizing how close Serena is. She can feel the fabric of Serena’s bra on her back.

“Is this okay?” Serena asks, making sure Bernie is comfortable with this.

“Mhmm.” Bernie replies, rolling over to face Serena.

She runs her hand through Serena’s hair and leans in to kiss her lips softly. Serena presses her lips harder to Bernie’s, deepening the kiss before she licks at Bernie’s lips, wanting to slip her tongue inside.

Bernie decides she needs to feel more of Serena’s body and moves her hand from Serena’s hair to her neck, over her shoulder, down her arm, and stops just above the waistband of Serena’s underwear. Making Serena stop to take a breath. Serena’s hand wanders as well, through Bernie’s curls and moves up and down her back, pulling Bernie in closer.

After a few minutes of kissing and roaming hands. Serena breaks the kiss, but not before she grasps Bernie’s bottom lip with her teeth and pulls. Bernie lets out a moan.

“We should get some sleep.” Serena smiles and pulls away to look into Bernie’s eyes, her hands tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

“Mmmm okay.” Bernie agrees. She doesn’t want to, but knows they should.

“Goodnight, Bernie.” Serena pecks Bernie on the lips one last time before rolling over.

“Goodnight, Serena.” Bernie smiles back before closing her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more bowling league. I wonder what they're going to do now???


	9. The Kids Are Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting a phone call is better than nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was easier to write than I thought, honestly

The next morning, Bernie wakes up and doesn’t recognize where she is. She quickly remembers and slowly turns over to see Serena sound asleep next to her, a dream come true. She shifts closer to Serena and pecks her lips ever so gently, Serena exhales.

“Good morning.” Bernie says quietly, running her fingers through Serena’s short hair.

“Mmmm what? Oh. Good morning.” Serena replies sleepily, not knowing who spoke until she opens her eyes, making her smile when she sees Bernie staring at her.

“How are you feeling?” Bernie asks. She can’t imagine that Serena feels the greatest after drinking so much last night.

“Like I should never drink again.” Serena groans. Bernie chuckles and kisses her lips again. Serena loves drinking, she’s good at it too, but as she’s gotten older, the hangovers have gotten worse and occur even with just 2 glasses of wine. The whiskey was what pushed her over the edge last night.

Luckily, Serena has the day off and Bernie is scheduled to go in later than normal, which meant they weren’t in any rush to get up.

“Do you want to get breakfast on our way to pick up your car before I have to go to work?” Bernie asks, tracing circles up and down Serena’s back.

“Yes, but first, I want to keep doing this.” Serena says, pulling Bernie in closer and kissing her on the lips, her fingers running through her hair.

Bernie moves her hand from Serena’s back to the back of her head and pulls her in, deepening the kiss. She licks at Serena’s lips, wanting to slip her tongue inside, Serena granting her permission. Morning breath be damned.

Bernie moves away from Serena slightly to run her hand down her neck, over her chest, and stop at her stomach, the muscles fluttering under her touch.

“Bernie.” Serena gasps. Bernie’s exploring making her breathing and heart rate increase.

“Is this okay?” Bernie asks, she doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries with Serena.

“Mhmmm.” Serena nods, giving Bernie’s hand permission to keep wandering.

Bernie runs her hand over the waistband of Serena’s underwear and to her bum, squeezing it several times, causing Serena to moan.

Just as Bernie is about to rub at Serena’s inner thighs and tease her some more, Serena’s stomach lets out a loud growl, breaking them apart and causing Serena to blush.

“I think someone’s hungry.” Bernie chuckles, removing her hand from Serena’s hip.

“Sorry.” Serena is a little breathless.

“Don’t be. We should get up anyway.” Bernie says, sitting up and climbing out of the bed.

“You’re welcome to use the guest shower down the hall. I’ll get a toothbrush you can use.” Serena says as she gets out of bed and puts her robe on to grab things for Bernie.

 

Once they’re finally out of the house, they hop in Bernie’s car to grab some breakfast at a little café not far from the bowling alley.

When they’ve finished with breakfast, they head to the bowling alley. Serena is digging in her purse, looking for her keys when Bernie remembers where they are.

“I forgot I threw them in here last night.” Bernie chuckles as she pulls them out of her bag and hands them to Serena.

“Thanks. For everything, Bernie.” Serena says, taking them from Bernie and leaning over to kiss her lips briefly.

“Of course, Serena. Anytime.” Bernie smiles, rubbing Serena’s cheek with her thumb.

“Have a good day at work, Bernie.” Serena says, kissing Bernie’s cheek before getting out of the car.

“It probably won’t be as good since you aren’t going to be there. It’ll be lonely.” Bernie winks.

“Well, then you should probably come to my house when you’re done with work so you aren’t lonely.” Serena says while peeking her head through the passenger window before getting into her car.

“Ok.” Bernie replies. Shaking her head as she watches Serena drive away. That woman will be the death of her.

 

On her way to work, Bernie’s phone rings. Digging it out of her bag while driving is a hassle, and dangerous, but she manages. She looks at the screen and answers it right away.

“Hey, Cam.”

_“Hey, Mom. I just wanted to see how things are going. How was the last night of bowling?”_

“Oh, it was good. Serena partied a little too hard and I had to take her home. I’m just on my way to work.”

_“That was nice of you. Wait, you’re just going to work now?”_

“Yeah. I start a little later today for some reason. I’m not complaining though.”

_“Oh, nice. Well, I’ve got to go but I just wanted to call really quick.”_

“Ok. Talk to you later. Love you, Cam.”

_“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”_

She purposely left out the parts where she stayed the night at Serena’s. She knows Cam wouldn’t judge her, but it’s early days and neither Bernie or Serena know what this is between them so it’s best not to tell anyone just yet.

 

Bernie is super busy at work from the moment she walks on the ward. She hasn’t gotten the chance to even look at her phone, in the hopes that Serena texts her throughout the day.

 

Serena is just putting groceries away when her phone rings. Looking at her phone and not knowing who it is, she answers it anyway.

“Hello?”

_“Hi, Mom. It’s me, Elinor.”_

“Elinor? Oh my god! Are you ok? Where are you?”

_“I’m fine. I’m in Scotland right now. I wanted to call and tell you I’m coming back.”_

“Scotland? Why there?”

_“I came out here for work and met someone out here but it didn’t work out.”_

“Oh darling, I’m so sorry.”

 _“Thanks.”_ There’s a beat. _“Mom. I’m sorry too. For everything. Treating you so terribly before you & Dad got divorced, and _afterwards _. I truly am sorry.”_ She starts to cry.

“It’s ok, Ellie. We can talk about this later. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

_“Ok. Hey, I’ve got to go but I’ll call you later.”_

“Ok. I love you and I can’t wait to see you. When are you coming home?”

_“I love you too. I’ll see you in 2 weeks. Bye, Mom.”_

“Bye, Ellie.”

Serena ends the call and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She doesn’t have to worry about where her daughter is anymore. She’s so excited that without hesitation, she calls Bernie. Her phone rings 4 times before it goes to voicemail, hearing Bernie’s voice makes her smile even more. She decides not to spoil the news over voicemail so she tells Bernie that she will see her later.

 

Bernie is finally able to look at her phone as she’s changing into her clothes to head to Serena’s. A smile appears on her face as she hears Serena’s message.

_“Bernie, it’s Serena. I was going to tell you something but I don’t want to say it over voicemail so I’ll tell you when you get here. See you later. Bye.”_

Bernie chuckles to herself and grabs her stuff and leaves the ward.

 

On the way to Serena’s, Bernie’s phone rings. Glancing at the screen and just seeing the letter C, she assumes it’s Cameron again.

“Hey, Cam. What’s up?”

_“Uh Mom, this is Charlotte.”_

“Oh! Hi, Charlotte. How are you?”

_“I’m good. I’m calling to tell you that I’m moving into an apartment in town and was wondering if you would help me move? I’ve called Cam and he said he would help.”_

“Of course, I’d love to help. When is moving day?”

_“Next Saturday. I’m renting a moving van for a couple hours in the morning. It shouldn’t take very long.”_

“Ok. I’ve got to go, but just text me the address.”

_“Ok. Bye, Mom.”_

“Bye, Charlotte. I love you.”

_“I love you too.”_

Bernie pulls into Serena’s driveway with a smile on her face. Her daughter is moving in town, she will have her children closer to her.

 

Bernie is just walking into the kitchen when she spots Serena at the sink. Serena had texted Bernie during her talk with Charlotte and told her the door was unlocked and to come right in. She walks up behind Serena and wraps her arms around her stomach and kisses her cheek, smelling Serena’s perfume. Serena turns in her arms and kisses her lips, smearing the freshly applied lipstick all over.

“Hi.” Serena says breathlessly after finally breaking apart for air.

“Hi. How are you? I got your voicemail.” Bernie smiles, rubbing her hands up and down Serena’s back.

“Really good. So, I heard from Elinor today!” Serena beams. She can hardly contain her excitement.

“Really?? Oh, Serena, that’s so good. How is she?” Bernie says. She’s excited as well, so happy for Serena. She knows what it’s like to not hear from your child for a long time.

“She’s good. She’s in Scotland right now but she’s moving back in 2 weeks. Apparently, she went out there for her job and met someone but it didn’t work out.” Serena is sad for the reason Elinor is coming back, but so happy she is.

“That’s really great, Serena.” Bernie says, kissing her cheek.

“Yeah, it is.” Serena replies.

“Not to take away from the excitement of Elinor coming home, but Charlotte called me on my way here. She’s moving into town and wants help moving into her apartment next Saturday.”

“Oh Bernie, that’s great!” Serena smiles, knowing how much this means to Bernie.

“Yeah. The kids are alright. All of them.” Bernie smiles and kisses Serena on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter is coming up!!!!! I'm excited to write it because I've known the ending for a while
> 
> Also, If I were to write a spin-off, I know what it would be about...


	10. Love Is Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernie receives some news. And spending the evening together forces Bernie & Serena to be honest with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter is here!!!!!!!!!
> 
> There is FINALLY smut in this one so be prepared.

It’s Thursday afternoon, 2 days before Bernie’s daughter moves into her apartment. Bernie & Serena are cuddling on the couch at Serena’s, talking about their children.

“How were your kids as babies?” Serena asks, running her fingers through Bernie’s hair.

“They’re just how they are now. Cameron was easy going, hardly made a fuss. Charlotte, on the other hand, a terror. She was always crying about something. As a toddler, she would get into everything and would sob when she didn’t get her way. Poor Cam thought she was broken and suggested we take her back to the hospital and get a new one!” Bernie laughed.

“Oh, bless his heart! Elinor was a lot like Charlotte then, very emotional. I think she’s gotten better about controlling her emotions, thank goodness. I wish I could’ve given her a sibling, though. Someone to grow up with.” Serena says, thinking maybe Elinor wouldn’t be such a rebel if she had a brother or sister to set a good example for.

They continue to cuddle on the couch, soft kisses here and there, gentle hands caressing bare skin under clothing. Before either of them could make the next move, Serena pulls away from Bernie and grabs her hand from under her shirt.

“Do you wanna go to the bedroom?” Serena asks breathlessly, her thumb caressing Bernie’s hand.

“No.” Bernie exhales. She has to stop herself before she makes a mistake.

“What?” Serena asks. She’s confused, she thought this was what Bernie wanted, what they both wanted.

“No, I-I do, but not right now. I was actually planning on taking you on a proper date first. I’ve just been too shy to ask you out.” Bernie blushes. It’s not that she doesn’t want to be intimate with Serena, because she does, she just wants it to be special and not rushed.

“Aww really?” Serena asks, resting her hand on her neck.

“Mhmm. If you’re ready, that is.” Bernie says, hoping that Serena is.

“I am.” Serena nods.

“Mmm ok.” There’s a beat. “Serena, would you like to go on a date with me?” Bernie asks, holding her hands and looking into her eyes.

“No.” Serena says seriously.

“What? I-” Bernie can hardly get any words out before Serena lurches forward, pressing her lips hard to Bernie’s.

“Yes! Yes! A million times yes, Bernie!” Serena shouts, looking into her eyes.

“Oh my god. You’re something else, Serena.” Bernie chuckles, pulling Serena in to hug her.

“So, when is this date?” Serena asks. If she’s honest, she hopes it’s tonight. She’s ready to move forward with Bernie, but she’s also terrified.

“Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at 7.” Bernie replies. She’s actually had the date planned for a while now. It didn’t take her long to decide on a place for dinner, somewhere elegant. She hopes Serena wears something stunning, a dress perhaps.

“May I ask where we’re going?” Serena asks, wondering what Bernie has up her sleeve.

“It’s a surprise, but wear something nice. Oh, and make sure you’re hungry because there will be plenty to eat.” Bernie winks. Serena catches on to what Bernie means, making her breath hitch.

“I’m hungry now, Bernie.” Serena groans out, grabbing her hair and pulling her in for a hard kiss.

“Patients, my love.” Bernie chuckles when they break apart.

 

The next day, Serena rushes home from work to get ready for the date. She stands in front of her closet for a good 10 minutes just staring at her clothes. She can’t decide what to wear. She wants to woo Bernie, of course, but she doesn’t know how to do that.

She decides to go with the ‘little black dress’ route and finds a tight, silk dress with a plunging neckline. This will woo Bernie for sure, she hopes.

She takes a quick shower and gets dressed, making sure her lingerie matches.

Just as she’s sitting at her vanity, applying her lipstick, the doorbell rings. She walks to the door, takes a deep breath and opens it.

“Hi.” Bernie beams, leaning in to kiss Serena on the lips, causing Serena to gasp and pull back. Bernie’s face scrunches in confusion.

“First of all, not on the lips, I just applied my lipstick. Second, step inside so I can get a good look at you.” Serena says, stepping back so Bernie can come in.

“Better?” Bernie asks, after stepping inside and kissing Serena on the cheek.

“Mhmm. Wow, Bernie, you look so amazing.” Serena says, raking her eyes up and down Bernie’s body from head to toe.

She’s wearing a very tight button up shirt, so tight that it’s almost see-through, Serena’s eyes spending several seconds admiring the stretched material at her chest. Along with the tight shirt, are skin-tight skinny jeans, the skinniest Serena has ever seen, making Bernie’s legs look longer than ever.

“Thank you. I could say the same to you. I mean, my god, Serena, you are absolutely stunning.” Bernie exhales, her eyes going to Serena’s chest instantly.

She wishes she could take Serena right there in the entryway but she wants their first time together to be really special.

After looking each other over for a few minutes, they head out the door and get into Bernie’s car. Once they’re in and buckled up, Serena rests her hand on Bernie’s thigh, rubbing it gently.

 

They get to the restaurant and walk inside. It’s very elegant, Serena thinks. She’s glad she went with the dress.

“This place is beautiful. Thank you, Bernie.” Serena says, leaning into her as they’re walking to their table. It’s a round booth in a secluded section, away from the noise and people.

They sit looking at the menus while their hands caress each other’s thigh slowly under the table.

“They have a lot of pasta and sauce combinations you can choose from, and they’re endless so you can get as much as you want.” Bernie says, pointing to the section on the menu.

“Mmm. I love pasta, I could eat it every day.” Serena says, deciding that’s what she’s going to get.

Once they’ve both decided, the waiter comes over and introduces himself and takes their drink and food orders. After he leaves, Bernie & Serena turn to face each other. Realizing she’s going to mess up her lipstick as soon as her wine gets here, Serena leans over and kisses Bernie on the lips.

They pull apart when the waiter comes back with their drinks.

“So, something exciting happened today.” Bernie beams, grabbing Serena’s hand and rubbing her thumb over it.

“What happened?” Serena asks, taking a swig of her wine.

“The divorce papers were finalized. I am officially a single woman!” Bernie almost shouts for everyone to hear, even though they’re in a quiet area.

“Oh my god, really?! Bernie, that’s fantastic! We definitely need to celebrate tonight.” Serena is so happy. She knows what it’s like to be cheated on and she wouldn’t want to put Bernie in a position where Marcus would make her choose between him and the children or Serena. That wouldn’t be fair to Bernie at all. Now she doesn’t have to worry about Marcus being an ass to Bernie anymore.

The meal goes smoothly, both of them ordering 2 bowls of pasta, different combinations each time. They decide to get a chocolate mousse cake to share for dessert.

Serena grabs the last bite with her fork and holds it in front of Bernie, signaling her to open her mouth.

“Mmmm.” Bernie moans around the fork in her mouth.

Serena notices a bit of frosting on Bernie’s lip and leans over to remove it, pressing her lips to Bernie’s. She threads her fingers through Bernie’s hair, pulling her in closer and Bernie grabs the back of her head.

“I’m ready to go, Bernie.” Serena gasps out when they pull apart.

“Ok.” Bernie smiles and signals for the bill.

 

They get back in Bernie’s car and kiss for a few more minutes, both enjoying the privacy. Hands start to wander, making them deepen the kiss. When Serena is in need of air, she pulls away and looks into Bernie’s eyes.

“Take me to your place, Bernie.” Serena breathes.

“You sure?” Bernie asks.

“Yes.” Serena nods while pulling on Bernie’s hair.

Bernie starts the car and leaves the parking lot quickly.

 

When they pull into the apartment complex, Bernie finds her spot, shuts the car off and immediately starts kissing Serena again. It’s dark enough out that they can hardly be seen in the car.

Serena deepens the kiss by pulling Bernie closer by her hair and slipping her tongue inside. Bernie moans and moves her hand from her lap up to Serena’s neck, accidentally brushing her fingers across Serena’s breast, causing her to gasp and pull away.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Serena. I didn’t mean to.” Bernie rushes out, pulling her hand away quickly.

“No, it’s ok, Bernie, but there’s something I need to tell you.” Serena says, looking into Bernie’s eyes.

“Okay?” Bernie is a little scared, afraid she’s done something wrong.

“I’ve never _been_ with a woman before. I’m scared I won’t know what to do, or I’ll do something wrong.” Serena says, looking down at her lap.

“Oh, Serena, it’s ok.” There’s a pause. “I think it's time that I’m honest with you. This isn’t my first time with a woman. I was in a relationship with a woman when I was in the army. Her name was Alex. If I’m completely honest, it wasn’t even a relationship, it was just sex. Friends with benefits, no, colleagues with benefits. She was one of the reasons Marcus & I divorced, he doesn’t know about Alex but he suspects I had an affair with someone.” Bernie says, feeling ashamed that she hurt Marcus, but not ashamed about the fumbles, was what she called them, with Alex.

“Oh, Bernie, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Serena says, taking Bernie’s hand in hers and rubbing her thumb across it.

“Thank you.” Bernie replies, looking into Serena’s eyes.

After a minute, Bernie kisses Serena again, her tongue slipping inside her mouth instantly.

Needing air, Serena pulls away and looks into Bernie’s eyes.

“Can we go inside?” Serena asks, her breathing ragged. Bernie nods and gets out of the car and comes around to help Serena out.

 

No surprise that once they’re inside, they’re kissing again. Bernie presses Serena against the front door and attacks her lips, moaning when Serena slips her tongue inside once again.

“Bedroom?” Bernie asks when they pull away for air. Serena nods and Bernie takes her hand and leads her to the bedroom.

 

Once in the bedroom, Bernie wraps her arms around Serena and finds the zip on her dress and pulls it down, then pulls the dress completely off Serena, letting it pool at her feet. She lets out a quiet moan when she sees Serena in a lace push-up bra and matching underwear.

She bends down to kiss and bite her neck, leaving a trail of marks. She moves down to kiss her breasts, both of them spilling out of the cups, while reaching her arms around to undo the clasp and pulling it off Serena and chucking it somewhere.

With her hands resting on Serena’s hips, she looks into her eyes for permission to continue, noticing how dark they are, and Serena nods. She then sticks her thumbs into the waistband and slips them down her legs, letting Serena step out of them. She stands up and steps back to finally get a good look at Serena.

“Oh, Serena, you’re so beautiful.” Bernie gasps, moving back to kiss her lips.

When Serena notices how very naked she is and how very dressed Bernie is, she reaches for the buttons of Bernie’s shirt and starts to undo them.

When they’re all undone, she pushes it off Bernie’s shoulders and goes to work on her bra. After struggling with it for several seconds, Bernie reaches around and undoes it herself and flings it somewhere.

Serena unbuttons and unzips Bernie’s jeans then steps away, pulling her lips off Bernie.

“You take them off, there’s no way I’ll be able to do it without hurting myself.” Serena chuckles, watching Bernie dig her thumbs into her jeans.

Serena gasps when she notices Bernie has taken her underwear off as well, seeing wiry curls.

“Oh whoops.” Bernie chuckles.

After Serena admires Bernie’s body from head to toe with her eyes, she lurches forward and presses her lips to Bernie’s.

Bernie wraps her arms around Serena and pulls her in closer.

“Bernie.” Serena gasps out when their nipples touch, sending a bolt of arousal through her body.

“Okay?” Bernie asks, looking into Serena’s eyes and seeing them darker than ever.

“Mhmm.” Serena nods.

“Bed?” Bernie asks.

When Serena gives a nod, she pushes her back towards it. She ushers Serena to climb on and follows right behind her, lying next to her. She wants them to enjoy this together.

Once settled, Bernie takes her hand and trails it down her body, stopping at her breast, cupping it and swiping her thumb over the nipple.

“Bernie.” Serena’s breath hitches. She wants to touch Bernie, but she doesn’t know how, making her hand move all over the place. Bernie notices her frantic movement and stills her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Bernie pulls back to look at Serena.

“I-I want to touch you, but I don’t know what to do.” Serena says shyly, looking away from Bernie.

“Hey, look at me. It’s ok, Serena. I’m right here, I’ll help you. Okay?” Bernie says, rubbing her cheek with her thumb.

“Okay.” Serena replies, looking up at Bernie.

“I’m sure you’ve touched yourself before, correct?” Bernie asks, taking Serena’s hand and running it up and down her own neck.

“Yeah. Many times.” Serena responds, feeling the soft skin.

“Okay. It’s just like that, but on someone else.” Bernie says while moving Serena’s hand down to her breasts, letting it brush over her nipples, releasing a groan when Serena circles her thumb over one of them.

“Wow. It’s different feeling breasts instead of chest hair.” Serena chuckles. Running her palm over Bernie’s breasts repeatedly.

“Isn’t it?” Bernie chuckles, releasing Serena’s hand and copying Serena’s movements with her own hand.

“Bernie.” Serena moans out when Bernie rolls a nipple between her fingers.

“Mmmm. I want you to copy my every move, okay?” Bernie asks, stilling her hand on Serena’s breast. Serena nods.

Bernie moves her hand back up to Serena’s neck, rubbing her thumb over her pulse point. Serena doing the same.

They move down to their breasts, both arching their back and groaning when they roll a nipple between their fingers, then pull hard.

The movement of their hands are slow and sensual, much like a dance across each other’s body.

Bernie moves her hand down to Serena’s stomach, feeling the muscles tense, before moving it to the curls at the apex of her thighs, tickling her fingers over her pubic bone.

“Please, Bernie. I need you.” Serena nearly cries out. Bernie’s fingers so close to where she needs them the most.

“Shhh. I’ve got you, Serena. Open up for me, love.” Bernie says. Moving her own leg and putting her foot down on the mattress, exposing herself.

Teasing Serena a little, Bernie moves her hand to her inner thighs, scratching gently. Serena rolls her hips, trying to get Bernie to stop teasing her.

Once Bernie decides Serena has had enough, she runs her fingers through her folds, avoiding her clit, and moans at how soaked Serena is.

“Please. Please.” Serena begs, she doesn’t think she can take much more of this.

“Ok, I’ll stop teasing you.” Bernie coos.

Finally, Bernie thrusts two fingers in at the same moment she presses her thumb to Serena’s clit, rubbing it firmly in circles. After several seconds, they both get a rhythm going and it is glorious.

“OH! Bernie! I’m close!” Serena shouts.

“Ohhh! Me too. Serena, I want you to look at me when you cum.” Bernie pants out, increasing her thrusts before curling her fingers to rub her g spot.

“OHHH! I’M CUMMING, BERNIE!” Serena screams, looking Bernie in the eyes when she cums.

“Serena! Don’t stop! Ohhh!” Bernie yells out. Staring at Serena as she cums, and feeling her gush all over her fingers, tips her over the edge immediately.

She stills her fingers inside of Serena and slows down her thumb, helping Serena through her orgasm.

Once Serena’s breathing is somewhat back to normal, she slowly pulls her fingers out, earning a groan from Serena as she does the same.

“Wow, Bernie.” Serena breathes.

“Was that okay?” Bernie asks, looking into her eyes.

“Okay? That was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever orgasmed that hard in my life. I-I might’ve gotten some on the bed. Sorry.” Serena blushes. She doesn’t think she’s every squirted before.

“You don’t have to apologize for that, Serena. I’m glad I could make you squirt.” Bernie says, a smug look plastered across her face.

“OK, you don’t have to look so smug.” Serena says, smacking her arm lightly before pulling Bernie in for a kiss.

“Ready for more?” Bernie asks a couple minutes later. Serena nods as Bernie climbs off and kneels at the end of the bed. “Scooch down for me.” Bernie says, grabbing Serena’s ankles and pulling them towards the edge. She smiles when she’s face-to-face with Serena’s swollen folds. She rests Serena’s legs over her shoulders, pushes her hands under her bum to raise her hips, before leaning forward and licking at her entrance and up to her clit.

“Bernie!” Serena shouts out and reaches her hand down to press on Bernie’s head to keep her in place.

“Mmmm. You taste so good, Serena.” Bernie moans against her folds before plunging her tongue inside and thrusting it in and out, causing Serena to roll her hips in an effort to push Bernie’s tongue deeper.

When Bernie’s tongue is tiring out, she removes it and runs it up to her clit, tickling it with the tip while she plunges two fingers deep into Serena, curling them and rubbing her g spot.

“OHHHH! BERNIE!” Serena screams, the movements pushing her over the edge quickly. Bernie pulls her fingers out and moves her tongue down to lap at her entrance, making sure she catches all of the creamy liquid Serena releases.

“Okay?” Bernie asks as she gets up off the floor when Serena’s breathing is slower.

“Yes.” Serena breathes out. “Come here.” Serena sits up and ushers Bernie to sit on her legs and wraps one arm around her waist to keep her steady. She immediately moves her fingers down to Bernie’s folds, gasping when she feels how soaked they are.

“Ohhh.” Bernie moans out when Serena runs her fingers over her entrance to gather some of the juices and moves up to her clit.

“Does this feel good, Bernie?” Serena moans in Bernie’s ear. Her arms wrapped around Serena’s shoulders, her hips moving in circles.

“Yes. Mmmm yes.” Bernie moans, her eyes closed, enjoying Serena’s fingers on her clit. It always felt more intense being upright as opposed to laying down. Gravity pushing her body down, she thinks.

“How about this?” Serena asks as she plunges her fingers hard into Bernie, making her body shoot up from the force.

“YES! Ohhhhh god! I’m close!” Bernie shouts, her hips grinding up and down Serena’s fingers. Serena removes her hand from Bernie’s waist and presses her thumb to Bernie’s clit, rubbing it vigorously.

Sensing that Serena’s close to orgasm, her breathing ragged, Bernie quickly moves her arm from around Serena’s neck and reaches down to find her clit, rubbing it hard and fast.

Climaxing together, they both slam their head down onto each other’s shoulder and bite it to keep from screaming loudly.

Once their breathing is back to normal, Serena slowly removes her fingers from Bernie and holds them in front of her for a second before putting them in her mouth. Moaning at how good Bernie tastes, it’s like nothing she’s ever tasted before. When she pulls them out after cleaning them, Bernie presses her lips hard to Serena’s and thrusts her tongue inside, mixing their juices together.

After several seconds, Bernie pulls apart and looks into Serena’s eyes. The last several months, before she met Serena, were rough, Hell even, but since Serena came into her life, it’s been absolutely amazing.

“I love you, Serena Campbell. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Bernie says, kissing her on the lips once more.

“I love you too, Bernie Wolfe. And I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” Serena says in return, kissing her back.

They climb back up the bed and fall asleep in each other’s arms, happy and content.

 

This is bliss.

Splitting up happens, but finding love happens too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!!!!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this story! Thank you soo much for reading it!
> 
> I hope to start the spin-off sometime in December.
> 
> I'm always up for prompts of any kind so feel free to send me some!


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